Treasured
by Thirteen Little Dreams
Summary: There are a million and one things I needed to know. For example, why am I a POKEMON! *Mystery Dungeon Darkness/Time Fic*


_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing but the ideas. (...and Peten. But other than that, nothing.)_

_Note: I'm not recopying that on any other chapters. Just know that I **do not** own anything, 'kay?_

A/N: I do not remember the exact conversations of the characters so if you can just bear with me and enjoy the fic that'd be great. PS Can you figure out what "It" is in the titles?

* * *

Chapter 1: Make it disappear

"_Whoa! Wh-wh-whoa...!"_

"_Are...are you okay?"_

"_No! Don't let go!"_

"_Just a little longer...Come on! Hang on!"_

"_N-n-no! I can't...hold on...!"_

"_Waaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh! Hibari!"_

"_Peten! Peten! PETEN!"_

The first thing I was aware of...was the cold, cold water. I crashed into it pretty hard, just as lightning flashed and thunder boomed, and then I slipped beneath the waves. I was tossed and turned, and then I fell into a deep darkness. Even so, I could only think, "_I've got to go back!_" and those words haunted me until finally all went black.

During that time, when I was unconscious I mean, I had a dream. In it, there was a small Treecko pacing in front of a building shaped like a Wigglytuff that had a torch on either side of it, a hole in the ground that had wood criss-crossed so that it made a grate, and two totem poles, one on either side of the grate.

"Hmm..." he said, "No. I refuse to be paralyzed by this any longer! This is it. I have to steel my courage today."

He stepped forward onto the grate. All of the sudden, a voice screeched, "Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected! Whose footprint? Whose footprint? The footprint is Treecko's! The footprint is Treecko's!"

...At which point he screamed, "Wah!" and lost practically all his nerve. He backed away, screaming, "That was scary!"

After a couple of moments, he glanced around.

"Whew..." he whispered, before looking at the building disappointedly. "...I can't...I can't work up the courage to go in, after all. I told myself that this is the day, but..."

He stared at a strange stone in his hand. It had some very familiar looking designs, but I couldn't put my finger on where I'd seen them...His voice brought me out of my thoughts. "I thought that holding onto my personal treasure would inspire me..." He sighed. "...I just can't do it. I'm such a coward...This is so discouraging..."

He gave the building a final glance before walking away rather dejectedly. Suddenly, two Pokémon, a Koffing and a Zubat, came out from behind one of the totem poles.

"Hey, Zubat," Koffing said with mild surprise, "Did you get a load of that?"

"You bet I did, Koffing," his partner answered.

"That little wimp that was pacing around...had something good, right?"

"That wimp had something, that's for sure. It looked like some kind of treasure."

The two of them looked at each other and had such a sickening grin on their faces that I just wanted to...

"Do we go after it?" Koffing asked, interrupting my thoughts.

"We do," Zubat answered with finality, and the two of them snickered as they went on sneakily behind the Treecko.

The scene changed, and soon I was watching the Treecko on the beach. Some Krabby were blowing bubbles into the air. Such pretty bubbles...It took a lot to rip my attention away from them. But I finally managed to, and soon I watched the Treecko intently. He walked up the waves and looked up into the sky.

"Oh, wow! What a pretty sight!" he shouted. It felt like I could hear him. Not just in the dream, but outside it as well. Then, to no one in particular, he said, "When the weather is good, the Krabby come at sundown to blow bubbles..."

He looked out towards the ocean. "All those bubbles, catching the setting sun's rays off the waves. It's always beautiful." He gave a long, meaningful pause. "This is where I always go when I'm feeling sorry for myself. But it makes me feel good to be here, like always. Coming here is uplifting. It cheers me up."

Those last words slurred a little, and suddenly the scene faded away. I was trapped in a still, suffocating darkness. But I realized I could still hear that Treecko's voice. And it was much clearer now than in my dream.

"Hey...what's that?" I heard him ask, "What's going on over there?" I heard feet shuffling in sand, heading towards me. I heard Treecko scream, "Waah!" again, though this time it was more panic than fear like last time.

"Someone has collapsed on the sand!" he cried. (Why, I wondered. I mean, just help the person!) This time the shuffling was much faster. "What happened? Are you okay?"

I moaned. He was so loud, and my head was pounding. "_At least I'm getting my senses back_," I thought. I lay there, wherever I was, a bit longer. Then slowly, carefully, I forced my eyes open to a beach similar to the one in my dream. My whole body ached, but I strained myself to sit up and face the worried...blob thing in front of me. As my vision came into focus, the green blob in front of me slowly turned into...

"You're awake! That's a relief!" the blob shrieked gleefully. I felt a migraine coming on. Ignoring it for a couple of seconds to relieve my headache, I looked around the beach. It really did look like the one in my dream. Then, I looked at the blob intently. Slowly, like a picture just coming into focus, it changed. Soon it wasn't a blob anymore. It was a...

"Treecko," I gasped. I thought he was going to ask me if I knew him or something but he went right on like he didn't hear me.

"You weren't moving at all," he said, "I was seriously worried! Do you remember how you ended up passed out here?"

"_I-I was passed out? What happened?_"

"I'm Hibari. Glad to meet you! I've never seen you around before. You are...?"

My voice caught in my throat for a few seconds before I finally managed to spill out, "Human. I'm human. That's why you haven't seen me around."

"What? You're a human? You look like a totally normal Chimchar to me!"

I stared at him incredulously before a bubble passed right in front of me. In it I saw my distorted refection. But oddly enough, it didn't look like a human. It looked like the reflection of...of a Chimchar.

Slightly panicked, I headed for the waves and stared down at my reflection. A Chimchar stared me straight in the face with the same stricken look on her face like I guess I had. The only difference was that her eyes were green. My eyes weren't...wait. Were they? I felt severely light-headed at that moment. He was right. I was a Chimchar! My legs felt a bit wobbly and the world was spinning a bit more than it should.

"H-hey! Are you okay?" he called out.

"How'd this happen?" I mumbled to myself, "I don't... I don't remember anything..."

"You're...a little odd," he said, dropping that last part to a whisper. "Are you pulling some kind of trick on me?"

I furiously shook my head, screaming, "No! No, I am not!"

"So...you're telling me the truth?" he said, still a bit doubtful. "All right then...Hey, what's your name?"

I racked my brain trying to remember. A name..._My_ name...what was it? I was starting to grow rather worried. I couldn't remember my own name? That was just sad.

"_Wait_," I told myself, "_I remember_ something." A scream. A shout. Something aimed towards me. Someone panic-stricken calling me. What did he say...? Then something hit me like Raikou's Thunder. A word...it sounded a bit far away. I think he shouted...

"Peten?" I asked aloud.

"Peten? That's your name?" he asked with a hint of laughter in his voice.

"Yeah, got a problem with that?" I said rather threateningly.

"No, it's just..."

"What?" I snapped.

"It's just that most Pokémon use their species' name. It's kinda odd to find someone like you and me who have a name rather than Chimchar and Treecko."

"Is that so...?"

"Well," he said rather blissfully, "you don't seem like a bad Pokémon. Sorry I doubted you."

He must have seen that look in my eyes because he quickly added, "More and more bad Pokémon have been turning up lately, you see! Many Pokémon have gotten aggressive lately. Things have grown somewhat lawless..."

"I see," I whispered when I noticed two Pokémon behind him. I recognized them instantly. It was _them_!

"Look out!" I cried. But it was too late. Zubat Tackled Treecko and sent him flying towards me. The two of us stumbled backwards. For a second I thought saw something fall towards the ground...

"Well, I do beg your pardon," Koffing said rather haughtily, accompanied by an unwanted sneer.

"Hey, what'd you that for?" Treecko hollered so loudly my ears rang. Zubat laughed.

"Can't figure it out?" he said with a condescending tone that I absolutely hated. "We want to mess with you! Can't face up to us can you?"

"Wh-what?" Treecko cried out in shock.

"That's yours, isn't it?" Zubat asked, motioning towards that stone that Treecko had said earlier was his treasure. It was half buried in the sand. He realized what Zubat was up to and turned a deathly white.

"No! Th-that's...!"

"So sorry kiddo, but we'll take that!" he shouted victoriously. Zubat quickly swiped it off the ground and then, after calling him a chicken, he and Koffing ran, er, flew into the cave to my right with poor Treecko bawling after them, "Stop! Give it back!"

After they had gone rather deeply into the cave, Treecko went hysteric. He yelled something about calling Magnezone when he looked at me and suddenly the color came right back to his face.

"I've got to get that stone back!" he cried, "Please! Help me! I don't have much money, but I'll pay you all I have! Please help me!"

"No need to ask," I muttered. "I'd like to get those creeps a taste of their own medicine," I huffed.

I didn't know why I was so incredibly angry with those jerks. I didn't know why, but...I wanted desperately to help him. Like I was indebted to him for something I didn't remember. But I brushed that off, and decided it was merely want to beat those thugs up. After a quick thank you, we headed off into the cave.

There are a couple of things about caves that always seem to come into mind. They are damp, cool, and swarming with something, like Zubats and Gligars. What does not come to mind is that there is sand inside with pools of water that make it seem like a mini beach with a roof on top. Now, imagine that with Corsolas, Shelders, Kabutos, and the blue Shellos from the east crawling around and you get what Treecko called Beach Cave. It's a labyrinth in there. Most of the land is flooded or cut off by the walls. On what strips of land you _can_ walk on, there is a hidden stairway that may or may not be blocked by a whole crowd of Pokémon.

Even so, it wasn't all that hard getting to the fifth floor. Treecko and I even had the luxury of collecting the items just left lying around on the floor. I got this cool Power Band and Treecko donned a new Pecha Scarf. He told me that the scarf would keep him from being poisoned while my band made me stronger, which was incredibly awesome. He said that he didn't usually find these sorts of things there. I just said I was a lucky charm.

We finally reached the pit to find Koffing and Zubat trying to find a way out without going back the way they came.

"Hey!" Treecko hollered, surprising both Pokémon. They spun around quickly, but when they saw us, the look of panic on their faces was slowly replaced by that smug look that I absolutely hated.

"Well, well," Koffing jeered, "if it isn't our old friend the chicken."

Treecko stepped back as if the big head's words had hurt him. Both Pokémon's faces just grew more confident. At that sight Treecko jumped forward and seethed, "Give...me...back...what...you...STOLE FROM ME!"

"Give him back his treasure, you big cowards!" I taunted. Koffing's face fell but Zubat kept smirking.

"Treasure you say?" he said amusedly. That tone...Oh, how I hated it when he looked down on me. I counted slowly in my head in a vain effort to calm myself down. I noticed Treecko on the verge of smashing them to bits as well.  
"_1...2...3...4..._"

"So that thing really is valuable, huh?" I counted faster and shut my eyes. "_1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8..._"

"Could be worth a lot," I heard Koffing snicker, finally catching on to what his partner was saying. I counted faster still, and balled my fists up.  
"_12345678910111213..._"

"We ought to try selling it. Who knows? Might fetch a good price."

That did it. I blasted an Ember at them, and soon, Koffing was down. Treecko, seeing what I was doing, gave a Tackle to rival Zubat's from earlier. He missed and Zubat gave a nasty Toxic to both of us. I felt my health being slowly sapped away while Treecko kept going. "_His scarf!_" I thought. Treecko launched another Tackle. This one connected and Zubat joined his partner in the dirt.

We stepped up to where they lay. I cracked my knuckles. Oh, even if I was a bit weaker than normal, this was going to be so much fun...

"W-wait!" Zubat cried.

"Too late!" I yelled, but Treecko stopped me. He pointed to the big, purple stone on the ground as it rolled.

"Ow...We got roughed up, didn't we?" Koffing coughed as he regained consciousness. Both he and Zubat got up.

"B-blast it! How'd we get wiped out by a couple of wimps like them?"

"Bah!" Zubat cried (in disgust this time), "Here! Take it, then!"

He dropped the stone on the ground and then he and Koffing skedaddled.

"My Relic Fragment!" Treecko wailed. He picked it up gently and held it close to him. The way his eyes shone when he looked at that rock made me feel, I don't know, envious, perhaps? He had, after all, got what he was looking for. Mine was still missing. I watched him dance around that stone like a Clefairy before turning around, walking unhurriedly towards the exit.

"Wait! Peten!" he called. The name rang unfamiliar in my ear, even though I was quite certain it was mine. I turned steadily to face him.

"I'm glad. You've got your treasure back," was all I could manage to say.

"I'm glad, too...You know, it's only because you agreed to help me that I got it back, Peten..."

I gave a sad, quiet giggle. "It was no bother, really."

With nothing else to say, I left it at that, and I walked out of the cave.

I walked out into the warm, warm breeze and sand beneath my feet. I looked out to the waves, the way they rolled peacefully onto the dunes. I heard the Wingull beckoning to each other overhead.

Even with all the natural noises of the beach, there was a silence that seemed like it belonged there, that if you made a single noise, it'd shatter.

...Which was why I near jumped when I heard a voice say, "Hey."

"Hey yourself," I told him when I saw who it was.

"Thank you so much, Peten! I'm serious! I don't know what I would've done without you!"

"You would've been fine," I assured Treecko, but he shook his head and stared at me intensely.

"No, I-I wouldn't have," he choked out, "They were right, Peten. I am a chicken."

"_A fact made painfully obvious from how you just stood there when they first attacked you_," I thought.

"Here," he whispered. He laid the stone on the ground for me to see.

"This is what they stole from me. I call it my Relic Fragment. It's my one treasure!" he beamed. "You see, I've always liked legends and lore...And I always get so excited when I hear stories of the past! Don't you feel the same way?"

Not exactly having an answer, I nodded.

"Well," he smiled, "hidden troves full of treasure and strange relics..." He turned to face the ocean, eyes as glittery as the waves that reflected the setting sun's light.

"...Uncharted territories veiled in darkness...and new lands just waiting to be discovered! Such places must full of gold and riches! And history! Wouldn't it be something to make a discovery so historic that the whole world would know your name? I know I sound greedy, but..." he turned to face me, "that's what I dream about. It's all very exciting to me!"

All the while that he's saying this I could only gawk. Was this truly the coward from a few minutes ago? And how'd I get sucked up onto another of his speeches? He had such big dreams for a little guy...And why the heck did I feel determined to see them through? Did I know him from somewhere? Now that I thought about it, his voice did sound familiar...For the second time that day, his voice brought me out of my thoughts.

"So one day, I came across my Relic Fragment. I'll admit it looks like junk, but take a closer look. See these strange patterns on it?"

Once more, I nodded, but this time because I was entranced by the patterns on the rock. It made a strange white flower thing on the flat surface of the fragment. Where had I seen this pattern before?

"I think that these patterns are important, somehow," he continued, "This Relic Fragment could lead to uncharted lands! To places rich in treasure and history! At least," he shrugged, "that's the feeling I get."

"It must be exciting!" I exclaimed, "Going around the world to find the meaning of your fragment!"

"Well...actually, I haven't left this town all my life. That's why I want to join an exploration team. This fragment must fit into something somewhere! And I want to find it! I want to solve the mystery of my Relic Fragment! And maybe," he winked, "along the way, help a few troubled Pokémon and catch a few criminals."

"So why haven't you joined yet? Don't tell me you chickened out after you got there," I said jokingly, trying my hardest for his sake to believe he didn't.

Then I remembered my dream, and all hope was lost, so I wasn't too surprised when he said, "Yeah, um, funny story. You see I was about to go in when I was attacked by whole gang of Raichu an-"

"You chickened out?"

"Yeah. I tried to join Wigglytuff's Guild as an apprentice...but I got scared and ran away. Heh, I should be happy, though. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have met you."

"Enough flattery. Please."

"So, Peten, what are you going to do now?" he whispered sadly. "You've lost your memory. And transformed into a Pokémon...Do you have anywhere to go or stay after this?"

"Afraid not," I said, "Going to have to look around for a place t-"

Suddenly, I fell to knees. My head felt like a million fireworks exploded in it.

"Peten? Are you alright?"

A pain in my body that I hadn't felt before crept in, making me feel as if someone was sticking a thousand Poison Sting needles into me.

"Peten? You okay? You look a little pale."

My lungs felt like they were being tied up by a mobster and kicked and it became harder to breath. My vision began to blur again, and I collapsed to the ground.

"Peten!"

I began to cough violently, and I shook like a leaf.

"Peten! What's going on? Are you okay?"

"S-stop...screaming...hurts..."

Suddenly my stomach lurched. I felt deathly sick. I took a quick glance at Treecko before I felt too weak to even lift my head. That panicked face of his paled with a terrible realization.

"Zubat's Toxin! Peten! Hang on! Please! I-I-I'll be right back! Hang on!" he hollered, scurrying quickly back into Beach Cave.

I laid there in pain on the white dunes of the beach. It hurt so much I thought I was going to die.

"_He'll be back. With help! He _will_ be back!_" I tried to convince myself. But as the seconds slowly ticked away, I slowly lost faith. Soon my thoughts changed to, "_I'm going to die, alone, on a beach in who-knows-where. I'm going to die a Pokémon, not a human like I know I am. I'm going to die without remembering a thing about me. Worst of all, I'm going to _die."

Yeah, I know. Melodramatic. But I was in serious pain, and he was taking quite a while.

I squeezed my eyes shut. I didn't want to see the sky as it grew black as day shifted to night. I didn't want to see glittering holes slowly being poked into the dark sky. I didn't want to see those pretty bubbles reflecting the setting sun's last few rays one last time. I didn't want to see the peaceful waves wash up closer and closer to me, threatening to take me away into the fickle tide. I tried to picture the good things in my life, but because of my memory loss, I could only think of bringing down Zubat and Koffing and meeting Treecko.

"_Treecko...where are you?_"

"Peten!" he cried, right on cue, "Peten! Hang on!"

I opened my eyes to Treecko turning me over and cradling me in his arms so that I faced the sky. He was out of breath and struggling not to cry in front of me.

"Peten! Please! I've got the antidote! Just hang on a bit longer!"

"Heh, that's...nice..."

"Don't speak! Just a little longer!"

"Stop...shouting..."

"O-okay," he mumbled, tugging on his scarf. It was only then that I noticed a small, heart shaped berry in one of his hands. He gulped and then held it up to my face. "Here. Eat it. It's called a Pecha berry. It's good for all sorts of poisons."

I moaned. I didn't think I could eat. My throat felt dry and raspy. Treecko, however, took that one moment of my mouth opening to shove the whole berry down. It hurt like heck and it went into my stomach like a rock, but the moment it did the pain I felt faded away like a Ghastly in the morning. Now all I felt was weak and tired.

"Thanks," I murmured. I tried to stand up, but my legs gave way. He caught me and scooped me up into his arms. That didn't last too long, though, because he burned himself on my tail. He was jumping all over the place. I hadn't laughed so hard since ...wait, have I laughed this hard before?

After he put the fire out beneath the waves, he slung my arm over him so that he was supporting me, being wary of my tail. He slowly walked me to a small clearing on the eastern side of the beach where he let go of me and sat me down.

"Peten?" he asked after a while.

"Yeah?" I mumbled sleepily.

"Quite the eventful day, huh?"

"Yeah."

"You end up as a Pokémon, find out you lost your memory, get tangled up with me, end up fighting two thugs, and collapse on the beach from poisoning. You're _real _lucky, you know that?"

"Yeah."

"Peten..."

"Yeah?"

"About earlier..."

"Yeah?"

"_Do_ you have a place to stay?"

"Nope."

"Then, can I ask you a big favor?"

"What is it?"

"Would...Would you form an exploration team with me?"

"Yep. Of course I would."

Silence, then...

"R-Really?" he screamed, shocked, "You're not just saying that?"

"Nope."

We sat in a hushed stillness a few more minutes.

"So..."

"Yeah?"

"What should we call our team?"

"The stars sure are pretty tonight."

"Huh?"

"How 'bout...Starlight."

"Starlight? That's a nice name. Um, why Starlight?"

"Lights of hope in dark..." I muttered, "Help wishes come true..."

"Really? That's so nice, Peten."

"Yea..." I said, beginning to drift off.

"P-Peten? Are you okay?"

"I...think. You never did...tell me...your name..."

"Huh?" he asked, obviously flustered. "Um...It's Hibari."

"Hibari...huh? That's a..." I slowly began drifting off, the day's events finally catching up to me.

"A? A what? Hey, Peten? Peten?" Panic began to line his voice. "Peten?"

When I didn't answer, Hibari began to shake me.

"Peten! Peten! PETEN!"

That...that call. The familiarity of it scared me. I remembered someone else calling me that exact same way. However, I was too drowsy to think, so I decided to leave it until morning.

"Shush...just tired...going to sleep..."

"O-okay, Peten," he stuttered. I gave a quiet laugh before drifting off into a peaceful slumber.

"Good night...Hibari. Sweet...dreams..."

* * *

This is something I wrote a while ago. Which is why it is rather...long? Hahaha.

Anyway, I've been jumping from story to story so random and irregular updates are to be expected of me. ^.^


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